Accra, Ghana: The Women, Youth, Peace, and Security Institute (WYPSI) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), in collaboration with the Ghana Armed Forces and with support from the Elsie Initiative Fund (EIF) are embarking on sensitisation tour in second cycle and tertiary institutions as part of measures to encourage young women to join the GAF, and choose combat and combat support arms.
The tour forms part of a national project dubbed: “Increasing Women Recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces for increased participation in UN Peace Operations”, funded by the EIF for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations. The Elsie Initiative is a global initiative to promote uniformed women participation in peace operations.
The sensitisation tour in the second cycle and tertiary institutions took-off in the Central and Eastern regions on Monday, October 9, 2023.
The team from GAF and the KAIPTC will educate students on career opportunities in GAF and address stereotypes and misconceptions about taking up a career in GAF. The team is expected to tour schools across the 16 regions by the end of the project.
The KAIPTC, under the strategic leadership of Major General Richard Addo Gyane, launched the GAF recruitment campaign at the Centre in June this year. The campaign encourages young women to take up opportunities within the combat units of the GAF and by extension provide greater opportunity for women to take up leadership positions in the military in future. It will also address misconceptions and stereotypes about women joining the GAF and raise awareness of women’s career opportunities and advancement in the Force.
The KAIPTC’s Women, Youth, Peace, and Security Institute and GAF are expected to conduct a communication and recruitment campaign with the key messaging that will focus on breaking down gender stereotypes, encouraging women to join the GAF, and choose combat and combat support arms.
The national campaign will cover three dimensions: lobbying the GAF high command to inform policy; media campaign and visits to secondary and tertiary institutions in the 16 regions of Ghana.
The campaign will be complemented by the construction of women’s accommodation and facilities at the Army Recruit Training School (ARTS) at Shai Hills and the Daboya Training Camp. This will ensure that the GAF had adequate space to accommodate the planned increase in numbers of women recruits.
The Project stemmed from the recommendations of the 2020 Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations (MOWIP) Report, which examined GAF’s ability to deploy women to, and ensure their “meaningful participation” in UN peace operations. The Report identified eligible pool, gender roles, and social exclusion as top barriers to women’s meaningful participation in UN peace operations.
One of the key targets of the Project is to increase the percentage of women recruited into the GAF from 16 per cent recorded in 2022 to 25 per cent by 2028, which will enable a larger eligible pool of women to be available for selection for deployment.